Prosecutor: Former Woodridge cop used charity as 'personal slush fund'

Scott Webb (police photo)

(police photo)

Scott Webb

Scott Webb ((police photo))

Clifford WardSpecial to the Tribune

Ex-Woodridge police officer Scott Webb used charity proceeds as a “personal slush fund,” a DuPage County prosecutor said at a Thursday hearing where Webb’s bail was increased by $500,000.

Judge Kathryn Creswell raised Webb’s bail to $750,000 after hearing details of how the former fugitive used proceeds earmarked to help the families of police officers killed in the line of duty to support an expansive standard of living.

“Instead of turning the money over, he used it as his own personal slush fund to fund his lifestyle,” Assistant State’s Atty. Helen Kapas told the judge.

Webb was charged in May with diverting $30,000 from the police charity he helped organize. However, instead of following through on an arrangement to surrender to authorities, Webb reportedly fled the area after withdrawing $16,000 from his bank account.

He was taken into custody in October in Branson, Mo., where authorities say he was living in an apartment under an assumed name. His pickup truck was being stored in a shed, its Illinois license plate replaced by one from Washington D.C., Kapas said.

The truck was just one of Webb’s vehicles, she said; he also owned a Saab convertible and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and he had two residences. The stolen charity money helped pay for them, she said.

“This lifestyle got the best of him,” said Kapas, who said Webb was “living way beyond his means.”

Kapas asked that Webb’s bail be increased to $2 million.

Webb attorney Jim Ryan said Webb would not be able to post the $25,000 cash bond required of his original $250,000 bail, much less anything higher.

But the judge said the higher bail was justified because of Webb’s flight history. Creswell ordered Webb to be outfitted with a GPS unit and to remain at home at almost all times should be post bond.

Authorities say Webb, a 10-year department veteran, stole proceeds from an event called “Crawlin’ for the Fallen,” a charity pub crawl to benefit a group called Illinois Concerns of Police Survivors.